Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Tarte Tatin – See What the Others Aren’t Willing to Show You

When I looked at some other tarte tatin recipes on YouTube, I noticed that very few showed the “flip on to the plate” step. They would just skip from the out of the oven shot to the final beauty shot. The reason of course, is that very few tarte tatins come out of the hot pan perfectly, and if they showed that, then you may not think they are as awesome as their profile says they are.

So, it’s with much pride that I show you the whole ugly scene that is the tarte tatin dismount. The good news is, it’s very simple to slap everything back on the crust before it cools, and none will be the wiser. This is even easier if you’re doing a version with very soft and tender apples and lots of caramel, which is my preference, as you’ll see.

If you do a Google image search for a classic, old recipe like this, you usually see a lot of photos that look alike, but that’s not necessarily so with tarte tatin. You’ll see an amazingly diverse array, which is fascinating since they were all made with the same few basic ingredients. Most of this is a result of cooking time in the pan before baking.

Some feature firm, barely cooked apples, while others cook the fruit all the way down to a buttery, caramelized jam. The beauty of a recipe that uses just pastry dough, butter, apples and sugar to make the magic, is that no matter how yours comes out you’ll enjoy it. Of course, you’ll want to hedge your bets with some vanilla bean ice cream to be safe. I hope you give this classic French treat a try soon. Enjoy!


3 large apples, quartered
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
pie dough for a single crust

View the complete recipe 

38 comments:

Brittany said...

Bien jouer ... c'est très belle !

Anonymous said...

Uber Chef John...omg, this recipe looks so good, could make a dead man salivate. Can not wait to try this evening.

Cheers................

Valentine said...

It sticked because you let it cool 5 minutes in the pan. If you turn it right after you pull it out the caramel won't firm up and stick the apples to the pan. But it's just the appearence.

Anonymous said...

Looks wonderful--all except the Granny Smiths. Would you please allow me to use Early Golds, Zestar, and/or Pink Lady? :-)
I love the simplicity.
Jackie

Vinny from NH said...

You ate it?

Once again, Chef John gets the giggles!

Juliedetroit said...

Being born and raised in the area where tarte Tatin is from I would highly suggest you try it with a dollop of creme fraiche instead of ice cream. It's the traditional way of having it and it is 100% yummmmyyy!!!

philogaia said...

As Julia Child says "No one will see you in the kitchen. No Excuses!" Well, Julia was never an Internet chef. Ah well. It is often the simplest things that are the most tricky to get right. Points for bravery filming that, chef. :)

Unknown said...

I don't have a food processor is there another way to make it or should i just buy a premade crust?

Anonymous said...

Chef John, did you accidentally click something and made the video unavailable? I can't watch it for some reason, and I've watched almost all of your other videos with no problems.

Joey said...

Can't get the video to load... says it hasn't been made available by the uploader :(

Rika said...

This video doesn't work for Germany for some reason.. The others still do.
Thanks anyway! Will try this one out someday~

Jonathan said...

I can't see the video on my iPhone in France.
I even checked your YouTube channel in the app, but the last video I can see is the Sauerbraten...
Any idea why?

Eva said...

YouTube says the user has not made the video availeable, strange.

Anonymous said...

What happened to the video?

Bill Best said...

For some reason this video doesn't seem to be available in Canada. :(

Is there some kind of apple video trade dispute? ;)

Bill Best said...

Unfortunately this video is not available in Canada. :(

Is there some kind of apple video trade dispute? ;)

Unknown said...

Chef John, the video is broken and we can't see it!

Unknown said...

Chef John - the video is broken and we can't see it. Getting an error that the Uploader has not made this video available.

Lhinelle said...

So I hate to have to miss out on such a simple yet delicious dish... why does it say "the uploader has not made this video available"? :(

Chef John said...

Sorry! Seems to be okay now. Not sure what is going on. Some kind of YouTube glitch!

Unknown said...

I made this dish last night and it came out picture perfect, tasted great too. Made my own ice cream but the tart is what made this thing special. Took the credit too, the wife and kids think im Jacque Pepin!!

Anonymous said...

Ta Ta Tan. That had me rolling haha.

turtleandi said...

I made this last night and it was delicious. I don't have a food processor but I do have Vitamix with a dry blade attachment and the pie crust came out flaky and beautiful. No more store bought crust for me!

Jeff @ Cheeseburger said...

The vanilla ice cream on the top makes this perfect. I can't wait to make this.

Joey said...

Thank you for fixing the vid... probably just didn't like us foreigners ;)

Every time you say "round the outside" in any of your videos, I have to do the Eminem repetition like you did on another video from a while back. Hearing you do it in this video again MADE MY NIGHT. Yeah, I know, small things and all that. And it's my birthday tomorrow so I feel like I just won fourth division in the lottery. True story.

Chef John said...

Happy birthday!!

Jeff B said...

Chef, could you have used an oven safe nonstick skillet? I think All Clad says theirs can go up to 450?

Chef John said...

sure!

Unknown said...

Thanks Chef John, I just made this and it turned out beautifully. I made it slightly different, but still, when I turned it over, everything was caramelized and golden--beautiful!

Tasted great, too--added a touch of lemon zest.

Unknown said...

Thanks Chef John!

This dessert turned out beautifully--everything was golden and caramelized.

I didn't have apple vinegar, nor a food processor to help me make the dough (had to do it by hand with forks), but everything still tasted great, especially with a dash of lemon zest!

Anthony Zaccaro said...

Just made this! What an awesome dessert. I made a cinnamon caramel creme anglaise to go with it! Love it!! Thanks, chef.

zeeman said...

Hi there, can you please tell me if it's possible to put in less sugar if I use a sweeter apple? Or, do I absolutely need that amount for the carmelization? It's not that I don't want to use granny smiths, I have some other apples right now at home and it'll save me a trip to the market! :D thanks chef john for all your vids. they are awesome.

Chef John said...

I guess you could, but firmer tart apples work much better than sweeter softer eating apples. Never tried to adapt.

bumburusik said...

OMG! I could never get the hang of pastry - but this one was a go from the first try, it even came out from the pan without sticking.

Thank you so much! All of your recepies that I tried turned out great - I love your videos. They are so detailed, easy to follow and funny, even your voice is reassuring :)

Is there any of your merchandise out - I would gladly buy it both for the value and to support you

Todd Quackenbush said...

I made this recently and it came out beautifully. Thanks for posting this one Chef John.

Steve Kennedy said...

Apple upside down pie.
Good stuff.

Elaine Livingston said...

Could you use brown sugar? I'm using white this time since I'm already making it but for next time. Thanks. Elaine

Unknown said...

Greetings from India! I just made this and it turned out perfectly. Your recipes are really wonderful!